I Will Follow You - Leaders' Gender and Support for Foreign Policy

In the last ten years the number of women national leaders has more than doubled. While the increasing number of women in the top leadership position is a new trend, recent research suggests that it has an influence on the foreign policy choices of states. Given the role of the public in affecting foreign policy decision making, it becomes relevant to question whether the public reacts differently to the foreign policies of states led by women. This paper will be the first study to collect and analyze comparable data obtained in a controlled experimental environment in the U.S.A and in Israel about support for foreign policies as a function of the gender of the leader. To establish the importance of gender and demonstrate its effect on public opinion regarding foreign policy, this article tests whether information regarding military and diplomatic experience, age and gender have a measurable impact on the way people think of their leaders. The paper also examines whether these characteristics are used by individuals to forecast their leaders’ actions in the international arena and formulate an opinion regarding the leader and his/her chosen foreign policy. Finally, this paper shows the influence of the different cultures on gendered attitudes regarding leaders’ foreign policy decision making. Drawing on previous studies regarding societal attitudes about female leaders, I hypothesize that both age and professional experience are more relevant to the approval rating of female leaders and their actions in the international arena than the approval of men leaders.